Lucian Truscott

Lucian Truscott (9 January 1895-12 September 1965) was a General of the US Army and the commander of the US Fifth Army during World War II. Truscott was known as the best divisional commander of the US Seventh Army and one of the finest American generals of the war.

Biography
Lucian Truscott was born on 9 January 1895 in Chatfield, Texas to an English father and an Irish mother, and he entered the US Army in 1917. He held numerous staff assignments during the Interwar period, and he was promoted to Major-General in 1942 and given command of the US 60th Infantry Regiment and US 66th Armored Regiment for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. In April 1943, he took command of the US 3rd Infantry Division, and he directed the July 1943 assault on Sicily in southern Italy. His division was the best-trained and best-led division in the US Seventh Army, and it always advanced at the "Truscott Trot", covering 5 miles an hour (double the usual rate of an American advance). In January 1944, he took over US VI Corps from John P. Lucas during the Anzio landings, and his corps was also used in the invasion of southern France. On 2 September 1944, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General, and he was given command of the US Fifth Army in Italy in December. He would lead the spring 1945 offensive that ended the war in Italy, and he served in the CIA after the war. He retired from the army in 1947 and from the CIA in 1958, and he died in 1965 at the age of 70.